Driver killed, troopers hurt after chase

Man took boy in Nazareth, exchanged gunfire after he was stopped in Monroe.

June 08, 2009|By Nicole Radzievich OF THE MORNING CALL

A man who kidnapped a boy in Nazareth was killed and two state police troopers were wounded in an exchange of gunfire after a Sunday night chase that ended in Monroe County, police said.

Harry Lewis, chief of Pocono Mountain Regional Police, did not identify the injured officers, who work out of the barracks at Swiftwater. He said one was flown to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest, and the other was taken to Community Medical Center in Scranton. He described their injuries as "serious."

"They are great troopers," Lewis said. "I am friends with them both."

Lewis said the incident apparently involved a custody issue and a violation of a protection from abuse order.

He said the suspect, who was not identified, was chased more than 50 miles through several municipalities into Coolbaugh Township.

Lewis said he was at Pocono Raceway preparing for DUI checkpoints about 8:30 p.m. when he responded to a chase with a possibly armed suspect.

The chase ended when police blocked off a desolate section of Route 611 just north of Route 423.

Lewis said the boy, who was under 10 years old, was not hurt by gunfire, but was taken to a hospital as a precaution. Police were working to reunite him with a parent, and to verify his relationship with the car's driver.

As of 10:40 p.m., the driver's body was still at the scene of the incident and Monroe County District Attorney David Christine was at the site.